System and method for facilitating transactions between two or more parties

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a system and method for facilitating a transaction between two or more parties. Electronic documents are received from a party and are posted to the secured account such that each party can retrieve and modify the electronic documents. Changes are made to the electronic documents and all or part of the electronic documents are locked against future changes as they are agreed upon by the parties. Upon agreement, the electronically signed documents are provided to the parties. The present invention also provides a method for facilitating a proposed transaction between an originating party and a potential buying party using various levels of unrestricted and restricted descriptions of the proposed transaction tied to conditions of release. The requested restricted description is provided to the potential buying party whenever the potential buying party agrees to the one or more conditions of release for the requested restricted description.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to the field of computersystems, and more particularly, to a system and method for facilitatingtransactions between two or more parties.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/621,743 filed on Sep. 17, 2012 entitled “Method for FacilitatingTransactions Between Two or More Parties,” which is a continuationapplication of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/287,014 filed on Nov.1, 2011 entitled “System and Method for Facilitating TransactionsBetween Two or More Parties,” now U.S. Pat. No. 8,271,393. U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/287,014 is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/254,540 filed on Oct. 20, 2008 entitled “Systemand Method for Facilitating Transactions Between Two or More Parties,”now U.S. Pat. No. 8,078,554. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/254,540is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/406,151 filed on Apr. 2, 2003 entitled “System and Method forFacilitating Transactions Between Two or More Parties,” now U.S. Pat.No. 7,562,053, and is a non-provisional patent application of U.S.provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/369,578 filed on Apr. 2, 2002entitled “Automated method for facilitating transactions between buyers& sellers when there are disclosure concerns of offering IP for sale”and serial number 60/402,929 filed on Aug. 14, 2002 entitled “Softwarefor facilitating transactions between buyers and sellers when there aredisclosure concerns of offering IP for sale” and serial number60/427,172 filed on Nov. 18, 2002 entitled “Method of FacilitatingContract Negotiations.”

Although this application is identified as a continuation in partapplication of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/621,743 filed on Sep.17, 2012 entitled “Method for Facilitating Transactions Between Two orMore Parties”, the specification and figures are identical (except forcorrection of typographical errors, addition of priority information andformalization of the figures) to U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/406,151 filed on Apr. 2, 2003 entitled “System and Method forFacilitating Transactions Between Two or More Parties,” now U.S. Pat.No. 7,562,053.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Without limiting the scope of the invention, the background of theinvention is described in connection with computer systems forfacilitating transactions electronically. Currently, the negotiationsprocess for agreements is cumbersome and time consuming. Agreements mustbe sent back and forth to parties, suggestions to modifications made,and sent back to the other party for review. Parties must carefullytrack changes, and when all parties agree, signatures made. Often times,these parties have council, who also must get in the loop. This is timeconsuming, labor intensive and costly.

Traditionally, sellers of Intellectual Property (“IP”), such asinventions, would enter into some sort of non-disclosure agreement withthe potential buyer of the IP. This was done for a variety of reasons,including but not limited to:

“Signed” proof of the exchange of the invention idea having taken place,thusly providing protection to both parties; the inventor, for his orher invention being stolen and for the buyer, not jeopardizing similarR&D projects or inventions that they may be working towards.

The promise of “secrecy: that the buyer entered into with the inventorprotected the inventor from violating public disclosure covenantsrelating to his or her desire to file for a patent in the future.

As the above two scenarios may illustrate, some of the dilemmas in theexchange of the idea or invention seem pretty obvious, but upon furtherexamination, there are subtleties of the exchange that occur during thenormal course of skilled business transactions, that if captured in anautomated method, could prove to be quite useful and therefore havecommercial value. Rather than discuss these subtleties in detail here,they will come out, by example, as the invention is disclosed and thoseexamples are made.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention provides an automated means for sellers of IntellectualProperty (“IP”) who have disclosure concerns to disclose informationrelating to the property while maintaining control over the release ofthis information. This can be done without having to physically be ineach others presence. The same protection would be afforded to buyers ofproperty. One such use would be for a seller of IP who wants to disclosehis/her IP to potential buyers without the seller and buyer having tophysically be in the same location, while still being able to maintaincontrol over the transaction. When one considers the complicated set ofneeds of either or both of these parties relating to this transaction,the value for an automated process will become apparent.

The present invention provides many advantages over the prior art,including but not limited to, maintaining legally binding electronicsignatures, protecting all types of information, providing for the needsof both the buyer and seller, providing the functional equivalent of apower of attorney, accommodating various layers of information release,allowing for negotiating down to the single letter level, allowing forthe use of canned or custom agreements, storing agreements with theuser's profile, allowing users to manage signed agreements, providingvarious agreement distribution options, accommodating more than twoparties in a transaction, providing warnings to sellers and providingsearch functions that search protected information without actuallydisclosing the information.

More specifically, the present invention provides a method forfacilitating a transaction between two or more parties. First,registration information is received from each party to the transactionand a secured account is assigned for the transaction. Each party isthen provided with login information for the secured account. One ormore electronic documents are received from one of the parties and theone or more electronic documents are posted to the secured account suchthat each party can retrieve and modify the one or more electronicdocuments. One or more changes to the electronic documents are made bythe parties and all or part of the electronic documents are lockedagainst future changes as they are agreed upon by the parties. For eachelectronic document, an electronic signature is attached from each partythat agrees to the electronic document and the signed electronicdocuments are then provided to each party. Note that the foregoingmethod can be implemented as a computer program on a computer readablemedium wherein the functions or steps are implemented in one or morecode segments.

In addition, the method described above may be implemented in a systemthat includes a network interface, one or more data storage devices andone or more processors communicably coupled to the network interface andthe data storage devices. The system also includes a computer readablemedium communicably coupled to the processors to receive registrationinformation from each party to the transaction, assign a secured accountfor the transaction, provide each party with login information for thesecured account, receive one or more electronic documents from one ofthe parties, post the one or more electronic documents to the securedaccount such that each party can retrieve and modify the one or moreelectronic documents, track one or more changes to the electronicdocuments made by the parties, lock all or part of the electronicdocuments against future changes as they are agreed upon by the parties,attach an electronic signature from each party that agrees to theelectronic document, and provide signed electronic documents to eachparty.

In addition, the present invention provides a method for facilitating aproposed transaction between an originating party and a potential buyingparty. First, acceptance of one or more terms and conditions associatedwith posting the proposed transaction are received from an originatingparty followed by an unrestricted description of the proposedtransaction from the originating party. Thereafter, one or morerestricted descriptions of the proposed transaction and one or moreconditions of release for each of the restricted descriptions arereceived from the originating party, and one or more selected operatingpreferences are received from the originating party. The unrestricteddescription of the proposed transaction is then posted on a web site. Arequest for the one or more conditions of release for one of therestricted descriptions is received from the potential buying party andthe potential buying party is provided with the requested one or moreconditions of release and any relevant operating preferences of theoriginating party. The requested restricted description is provided tothe potential buying party whenever the potential buying party agrees tothe one or more conditions of release for the requested restricteddescription. One or more conditions of acceptance for the requestedrestricted description are received whenever the potential buying partyrequires the originating party to accept the one or more conditions ofacceptance prior to disclosure of the requested restricted description.In addition, the restricted descriptions provided to the potentialbuying party and the conditions agreed to by the potential buying partyand the originating party are tracked. Note that the foregoing methodcan be implemented as a computer program on a computer readable mediumwherein the functions or steps are implemented in one or more codesegments.

In addition, the method described above may be implemented in a systemthat includes a network interface, one or more data storage devices andone or more processors communicably coupled to the network interface andthe data storage devices. The system also includes a computer readablemedium communicably coupled to the processors to receive acceptance ofone or more terms and conditions associated with posting the proposedtransaction from an origination party, receive an unrestricteddescription of the proposed transaction from the originating party,receive one or more restricted descriptions of the proposed transactionand one or more conditions of release for each of the restricteddescriptions from the originating party, receive one or more selectedoperating preferences from the originating party, post the unrestricteddescription of the proposed transaction on a web site, receive a requestfor the one or more conditions of release for one of the restricteddescriptions from the potential buying party, provide the potentialbuying party with the requested one or more conditions of release andany relevant operating preferences of the originating party, provide therequested restricted description to the potential buying party wheneverthe potential buying party agrees to the one or more conditions ofrelease for the requested restricted description, receive one or moreconditions of acceptance for the requested restricted descriptionwhenever the potential buying party requires the originating party toaccept the one or more conditions of acceptance prior to disclosure ofthe requested restricted description, and track the restricteddescriptions provided to the potential buying party and the conditionsagreed to by the potential buying party and the originating party.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the features and advantages of thepresent invention, reference is now made to the detailed description ofthe invention along with the accompanying figures in which correspondingnumerals in the different figures refer to corresponding parts and inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method of facilitating a transaction betweentwo or more parties in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are flow charts of a method of facilitating atransaction between an originating party and a potential buying party inaccordance with another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3C is a flow chart illustrating the layering of restricteddescriptions and disclosure conditions in accordance with the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a web site page in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a web site in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 6A is a flow chart of the edit account profile function of the website of FIG. 5 in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 6B and 6C are block diagrams illustrating representative free andpremium functions that can be subscribed/unsubscribed to in FIG. 6A inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of the register function of the web site of FIG.5 in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of the post IP function of the web site of FIG. 5in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart of the browse IP function of the web site of FIG.5 in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of the initiate deal function of the web site ofFIG. 5 in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 11 is a flow chart of the continue deal function of the web site ofFIG. 5 in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While the production and application of various embodiments of thepresent invention are discussed in detail below, it should beappreciated that the present invention provides many applicableinventive concepts that may be embodied in a wide variety of specificcontexts. The specific embodiments discussed herein are merelyillustrative of specific ways to make and use the invention and do notdelimit the scope of the invention.

This invention provides an automated means for sellers of IntellectualProperty (“IP”) who have disclosure concerns to disclose informationrelating to the property while maintaining control over the release ofthis information. This can be done without having to physically be ineach others presence. The same protection would be afforded to buyers ofproperty. One such use would be for a seller of IP who wants todisclosure his/her IP to potential buyers without the seller and buyerhaving to physically be in the same location, while still being able tomaintain control over the transaction. When one considers thecomplicated set of needs of either or both of these parties relating tothis transaction, the value for an automated process will becomeapparent.

The present invention provides many advantages over the prior art,including but not limited to, maintaining legally binding electronicsignatures, protecting all types of information, providing for the needsof both the buyer and seller, providing the functional equivalent of apower of attorney, accommodating various layers of information release,allowing for negotiating down to the single letter level, allowing forthe use of canned or custom agreements, storing agreements with theuser's profile, allowing users to manage signed agreements, providingvarious agreement distribution options, accommodating more than twoparties in a transaction, providing warnings to sellers and providingsearch functions that search protected information without actuallydisclosing the information.

Now referring to FIG. 1, a block diagram of a system 100 in accordancewith the present invention is shown. Server 102, which may be one ormore processors, computers or other computing devices suitable forimplementing the present invention, is communicably coupled to one ormore databases 104. The databases 104 may include redundancy/backupcapabilities and may be in different geographic locations. The databases104 can be communicably coupled to the server 102 by direct connections,wireless connections, through other computers or through a local or widearea network, or any other suitable communication connection. Thedatabases 104 store various data, files, profiles, sessions, programsand other information required to operate the present invention. Theserver 102 is communicably connected to a local or wide area network 106via a communications interface (not shown). Various persons or entitiescan access the present invention using a personal computer, laptopcomputer, workstation, personal data assistant (“PDA”), web-enabledphone or other communications device by connecting to the server 102 vianetwork 106. As shown, four persons or entities Party A, Party B, PartyC and Party D are communicably coupled to the network 106 viacommunication devices 108, 110, 112 and 114, respectively. These PartiesA, B, C and D may be using the present invention independently orcooperatively.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a flow chart of a method of facilitating atransaction between two or more parties 200 in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention is shown. The transaction mayinvolve intellectual property (such as copyrightable material, ideas,patents, patent applications, trademarks, licenses and technology), thesale of goods or services or any other business opportunity in which twoor more parties desire to enter into a binding relationship. The processbegins in block 202 and registration information is received from eachparty to the transaction in block 204. The registration information mayinclude a user name for the party, a password for the party andacceptance to certain contractual terms and conditions that create alegally binding electronic signature for the party. Other typicalcontact information and identity validation information may also berequested or required. A secured account is then assigned for thetransaction in block 206. The secured account allows the parties tonegotiate the deal, communicate and retrieve and post electronicdocuments in a secure environment. As a result, each party is providedwith login information for the secured account in block 207, which maybe in addition to login information required for entry in certain partsof the web site. The login information will typically include a uniqueuser name and password assigned by the system. The party may change theuser name and password at a later time as long as certain securitycriteria are satisfied.

At some time later, the system receives one or more electronic documentsfrom one of the parties that will be used as a starting point for thetransaction in block 208. These electronic documents may include aconfidentiality agreement, term sheet, purchase agreement, assetpurchase agreement, development agreement, license agreement or anyother type of document relating to the transaction. The electronicdocument(s) are then posted to the secured account such that each partycan retrieve and modify the one or more electronic documents in block210. The one or more electronic documents may be selected by the partyfrom a list of standard agreements made available to the party, uploadedby the party or stored in a user profile assigned to the party.Moreover, the posting party may lock one or more portions of thereceived documents against future changes.

During the negotiation process, the system tracks one or more changes tothe electronic documents made by the parties in block 212. The systemalso locks all or part of the electronic documents against futurechanges as they are agreed upon by the parties in block 214. Anelectronic signature from each party that agrees to the electronicdocument is attached to the electronic document in block 216.Thereafter, signed electronic documents are provided to each party inblock 218 and the process is completed in block 220. The system may alsoprovide a dialog session that is public to all the parties for recordingcomments relating to the one or more electronic documents and/or adialog session that is private between at least two of the parties forrecording comments to the one or more electronic documents. Moreover,the tracking changes function may include receiving one or more commandsrelating to a portion of the electronic documents from the parties,wherein the one or more commands include an acceptance of the portion ofthe electronic documents, a rejection of the portion of the electronicdocuments, a modification of the portion of the electronic documents, ora substitution of the portion of the electronic documents. Theacceptances, the rejections, the modifications and the substitutions mayalso be displayed to the parties in a different visual format. Note thatthe foregoing method can be implemented as a computer program on acomputer readable medium wherein the functions or steps are implementedin one or more code segments.

In addition, the method described above may be implemented in a systemthat includes a network interface, one or more data storage devices andone or more processors communicably coupled to the network interface andthe data storage devices. The system also includes a computer readablemedium communicably coupled to the processors to receive registrationinformation from each party to the transaction, assign a secured accountfor the transaction, provide each party with login information for thesecured account, receive one or more electronic documents from one ofthe parties, post the one or more electronic documents to the securedaccount such that each party can retrieve and modify the one or moreelectronic documents, track one or more changes to the electronicdocuments made by the parties, lock all or part of the electronicdocuments against future changes as they are agreed upon by the parties,attach an electronic signature from each party that agrees to theelectronic document, and provide signed electronic documents to eachparty.

Now referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, flow charts of a method offacilitating a transaction between an originating party and a potentialbuying party 300 in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention are shown. The method begins in block 302 and the systemreceives acceptance of one or more terms and conditions associated withposting the proposed transaction from an originating party in block 304.The one or more terms and conditions create a legally binding electronicsignature for the originating party. The transaction may involveintellectual property (such as copyrightable material, ideas, patents,patent applications, trademarks, licenses and technology), the sale ofgoods or services or any other business opportunity in which the partiesare concerned about the disclosure of confidential or proprietaryinformation. An unrestricted description of the proposed transaction isreceived from the originating party in block 306. The unrestricteddescription is typically a brief abstract that provides generalnon-disclosing information about the proposed transaction. One or morerestricted descriptions of the proposed transaction and one or moreconditions of release for each of the restricted descriptions arereceived from the originating party in block 308. Each restricteddescription is tailored by the originating party to provide additionaldetail about the proposed transaction that is commensurate with the oneor more conditions of release for the restricted description. Inaddition, the restricted descriptions may include graphical content,audio content, video content or any combination thereof. The one or moreconditions of release are set by the originating party according to hisor her perceived importance of the restricted descriptions. As a result,the one or more conditions may include an acknowledgment of receipt,payment of a fee, a convent not to use, or a confidentiality agreement,which may be supplied by the originating party or a standard agreementthat is accessible on the web site. If there is more than one restricteddescription, as determined in decision block 310, the system continuesto receive additional restricted descriptions and conditions of releasein block 308. If, however, there are no more restricted descriptions, asdetermined in decision block 310, one or more selected operatingpreferences are received from the originating party in block 312 and theunrestricted description of the proposed transaction is posted on a website or otherwise made available to others. The selected operatingpreferences may include an automatic notification function, an automatedproxy, a final approval before release function, etc.

Thereafter, a request for the one or more conditions of release for oneof the restricted descriptions is received from the potential buyingparty in block 316, and the requested one or more conditions of releaseand any relevant operating preferences of the originating party areprovided to the potential buying party in block 318. If the potentialbuying party agrees to the one or more conditions of release for therequested restricted description, as determined in decision block 320,and the potential buying party does not want to impose any buyerconditions on the release, as determined in decision block 322, therequested restricted description is disclosed to the potential buyingparty in block 324. If no more restricted disclosures are requested, asdetermined in decision block 326, the process ends in block 328. If,however, more restricted disclosures are requested, as determined indecision block 328, the process returns to block 316 and the processcontinues. If, however, the potential buying party agrees to the one ormore conditions of release for the requested restricted description, asdetermined in decision block 320, but the potential buying party doeswant to impose any buyer conditions on the release, as determined indecision block 322, the buyer imposed conditions are received in block330. The buyer imposed conditions are then provided to the originatingparty in block 332. The buyer imposed conditions may include theoriginating party's agreement to a waiver, confidentiality agreement,etc. If the originating party agrees to the buyer imposed conditions, asdetermined in decision block 334, the requested restricted descriptionis disclosed to the potential buying party in block 324. If, however,the potential buying party does not agree to the conditions for release,as determined in decision block 320, or the originating party does notagree to the buyer imposed conditions, as determined in decision block334, the parties may attempt to negotiate the release of theinformation. If the parties do not want to negotiate the terms ofdisclosure, as determined in decision block 336, the process ends inblock 328. If, however, the parties do wish to negotiation the terms ofdisclosure, as determined in decision block 335, the terms arenegotiated in block 338. This negotiation process can use the processdescribed in FIG. 2. If an agreement is reached, as determined indecision block 340, the requested restricted description is provided tothe potential buying party in block 324. If, however, an agreement isnot reached, as determined in decision block 340, the process ends inblock 328. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, thepresent invention described above protects both the originating partyand the potential buying party to the extent required by the parties.Throughout this process, the system tracks the restricted descriptionsprovided to the potential buying party and the conditions agreed to bythe potential buying party and the originating party.

Note that the negotiation of the disclosure of the one or morerestricted descriptions for the origination party can be automaticallyperformed based on the one or more conditions of release. Moreover, thepotential buying party may search the restricted disclosure(s) for oneor more search terms provided by the potential buying party withoutagreeing to the one or more conditions of release. The potential buyingparty is then provided with any unrestricted descriptions thatcorrespond to any restricted disclosure that contains the one or moresearch terms. Note that the foregoing method can be implemented as acomputer program on a computer readable medium wherein the functions orsteps are implemented in one or more code segments.

In addition, the method described above may be implemented in a systemthat includes a network interface, one or more data storage devices andone or more processors communicably coupled to the network interface andthe data storage devices. The system also includes a computer readablemedium communicably coupled to the processors to receive acceptance ofone or more terms and conditions associated with posting the proposedtransaction from an origination party, receive an unrestricteddescription of the proposed transaction from the originating party,receive one or more restricted descriptions of the proposed transactionand one or more conditions of release for each of the restricteddescriptions from the originating party, receive one or more selectedoperating preferences from the originating party, post the unrestricteddescription of the proposed transaction on a web site, receive a requestfor the one or more conditions of release for one of the restricteddescriptions from the potential buying party, provide the potentialbuying party with the requested one or more conditions of release andany relevant operating preferences of the originating party, provide therequested restricted description to the potential buying party wheneverthe potential buying party agrees to the one or more conditions ofrelease for the requested restricted description, receive one or moreconditions of acceptance for the requested restricted descriptionwhenever the potential buying party requires the originating party toaccept the one or more conditions of acceptance prior to disclosure ofthe requested restricted description, and track the restricteddescriptions provided to the potential buying party and the conditionsagreed to by the potential buying party and the originating party.

FIG. 3C is a flow chart illustrating the layering of restricteddescriptions and disclosure conditions in accordance with the presentinvention. More specifically, FIG. 3C describes a method of facilitatingbusiness transactions where buyers and sellers individually choose optout requirements. Buyers (potential buying parties) 350 and Sellers(originating parties) 352 either have disclosure concerns 354 or have nodisclosure concerns 356. As a result of these concerns, the buyers 350and sellers 352 desire various opt out levels: full disclosure (no optout) 358, level one opt out 360, or some number of additional opt outlevels 362. This is in stark contrast to prior art systems that onlyaddress the disclosure concerns of the sellers 352. These systems alsoonly allow for full disclosure or one opt out level based on the desiresof the sellers 352. The present invention, however, takes care of theneeds of both buyers 350 and sellers 352. As shown in the matrix, fulldisclosure 358 is always achieved when both the buyer 350 and seller 352have no disclosure concerns 356 as indicated by triangle 364. If thebuyer 350 has disclosure concerns 354, but the seller has no disclosureconcerns 356, the buyer 350 may require some transaction (buyer imposedcondition) to occur prior to full disclosure 358 as indicated by arrows366 and 368 and triangle 370. These required transactions will dependupon the opt out level(s) 360, 362 selected by the buyer 350.Conversely, if the seller 352 has disclosure concerns 354, but the buyerhas no disclosure concerns 356, the seller 352 may require sometransaction (disclosure conditions) to occur prior to full disclosure358 as indicated by arrows 372, 374 and triangle 376. These requiredtransactions will depend upon the opt out level(s) 360, 362 selected bythe seller 352. The final scenario occurs when the both the buyer 350and the seller 352 have disclosure concerns. As a result, sometransaction (disclosure conditions and buyer imposed conditions) will berequired prior to full disclosure 358 as indicated by arrows 378, 380,382, 384 and triangle 386. These required transactions will depend uponthe opt out level(s) 360, 362 selected by both the buyer 350 and theseller 352.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a block diagram of a web site page 400 inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention is shown. Theweb site page 400 includes a website banner 402, various websitenavigation buttons 404, welcome and information of daily interestsection 406, shortcuts and other information section 408, tips andeducation information section 410, links and legal notices section 412,and a registration, login, searching, tools and listings section. Thisweb site page 400 can be used as the entry screen for a website thatprovides the services shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3 or both. FIGS. 5 through11 illustrate such an example.

Now referring to FIG. 5, a flow chart of a web site 500 in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention is shown. The web site isentered in block 502, such that certain public areas of the web site canbe browsed in block 504 or exited in block 524. If the user wants accessto the private areas of the web site, he or she must become a registereduser in block 506 (FIG. 7). Thereafter, the user may login to the website in block 508. If the login is successful, the user may perform anumber of functions 510, 512, 514, 516, 518 or 520. These functionsinclude edit account profile 510 (FIG. 6A), post IP 512 (FIG. 8), browseIP 514 (FIG. 9), initiate deal 516 (FIG. 10), and continue deal 518(FIG. 11). The user may also logout 522 and/or exit the web site 524.Although, the functions in this example are shown to be private, some ofthem can be made public.

Referring now to FIG. 6A, a flow chart of the edit account profilefunction 510 of the web site of FIG. 5 in accordance with the presentinvention is shown. The edit account profile 510 allows a user tosubscribe/unsubscribe to premium features in block 600, edit accountinformation in block 602 and exit in block 604. The free features 620are shown in FIG. 6B and the premium features 660 are shown in FIG. 6C.

Now referring to FIGS. 6B and 6C, block diagrams illustratingrepresentative free functions 620 and premium functions 660 that can besubscribed/unsubscribed to in FIG. 6A in accordance with the presentinvention are shown. The free functions 620 may include membershipfunctions 612, building/editing the user's website 624, lead generation626, autonotification 628 and submit/access IP 630. The premiumfunctions 660 may include favored rankings 662, edit account information664, add multimedia 666, stealth view 668, patent guard 670, signingassistant 672, passcodes 674, webmail 676, private messenger 678,statistics 680, offsite links 682 and agreements 684. Theautonotification function 628 automatically notifies a user about newweb pages being posted into the search engine, by having the system sendthe user automated e-mail messages, for those invention ideas that matchthe user's specific detailed search criteria. The autonotificationfunction 628 can also be used to notify a user of various types ofdisclosure of his or her information to third parties. The patent guard670 presents legally binding confidentiality agreements or otheragreements to a third party before they are allowed to access thedetails of the user's web site or other information. The signingassistant 672 or proxy agent allows the user to instruct the user's website or disclosure to automatically sign the user's name, requiring nofurther action, if the buyer agrees to the user's un-modified terms. Theuser is also able to keep up with executed copies of the agreements. Thepasscodes function 674 allows the user to give passcodes to authorizedparties so that they can view the user's information. The stealth viewfunction 668 secures the user's web pages from copying the user'scontent.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a flow chart of the register function 506 ofthe web site of FIG. 5 in accordance with the present invention isshown. The register function 506 requires the user to provide userinformation in block 700 and agree to certain website terms in block702. The user may subscribe to premium features in block 704 and exit inblock 706.

Now referring to FIG. 8, a flow chart of the post IP function 512 of theweb site of FIG. 5 in accordance with the present invention is shown.The post IP function 512 allows a user to provide a layer of IPinformation in block 800 and specify conditions for release of thatlayer of IP information in block 802. If no conditions are specified,the IP information is considered unrestricted or public information.This process repeats for as many layers of IP information and conditionsthat the user wants to set up. Once the user has finished providinglayers, as determined in decision block 804, the user may specifycertain agreements that must be agreed to before various IP informationis disclosed. If no agreements are specified, as determined in decisionblock 806, the user may select various notification parameters in block808 and exit the function in block 810. If, however, the user wants tospecify agreements, as determined in decision block 806, and is willingto use standard agreements, as determined in decision block 812, theuser selects a standard agreement in block 814. If, however, the userdoes not want to use standard agreements, as determined in decisionblock 812, the user may load custom agreements in block 818. After thestandard or custom agreements have been selected in block 814 or 818,additional agreements can be added, as determined in decision block 816,in which case the process loops back to decision block 806. If noadditional agreements are required, as determined in decision block 816,the user may select notification parameters in block 808 and exit thefunction in block 810.

Referring now to FIG. 9, a flow chart of the browse IP function 514 ofthe web site of FIG. 5 in accordance with the present invention isshown. The browse IP function 514 allows the user to browse by categoryin block 900 or search using standard searching methods in block 902.Once either of these methods displays a list of IP, the user may selectone of the displayed IP. If the user does not select any IP, asdetermined in decision block 904, the user may either return to thesearch 902 or browse 900 functions, or exit the function in block 908,as determined in decision block 906. If the user selects IP, asdetermined in decision block 904, the user views the public informationin block 910 and any terms related to further disclosure in block 912.If the user accepts these terms, as determined in decision block 914,the disclosure is then viewed in block 916. If the user wants to see thenext layer of disclosure, as determined in decision block 918, theprocess returns to block 912 and the process repeats. If, however, theuser does not want to go to the next level of disclosure, as determinedin decision block 918, the user may either return to the search 902 orbrowse 900 functions, or exit the function in block 908, as determinedin decision block 906. If, however, the user accepts the terms relatedto further disclosure, as determined in decision block 914, the user mayspecify his or her own terms. If the user decides not to specify terms,as determined in decision block 920, the user may either return to thesearch 902 or browse 900 functions, or exit the function in block 908,as determined in decision block 906. If, however, the user does decideto specify terms, as determined in decision block 920, the userspecifies those terms in block 922. If the owner has enabled his or herauto proxy, as determined in decision block 924, the auto proxy willdecide whether to accept or decline the specified terms based on presetcriteria. If the owner has not enabled, his or her auto proxy, the termsare sent to the owner in block 926. If the owner does not accept theterms directly from block 926 or via his or her proxy, as determined indecision block 928, the user may either return to the search 902 orbrowse 900 functions, or exit the function in block 908, as determinedin decision block 906. If, however, the owner does accept the termsdirectly from block 926 or via his or her proxy, as determined indecision block 928, the disclosure is viewed in block 916, and theprocess continues as previously described.

Now referring to FIG. 10, a flow chart of the initiate deal function 516of the web site of FIG. 5 in accordance with the present invention isshown. The initiate deal function 516 allows the user to register for aunique secured account in block 1000, identify other parties to the dealin block 1002 and post first drafts of agreements in block 1004.Thereafter, the other parties are notified of the document postings inblock 1006 and the function is exited in block 1008.

Referring now to FIG. 11, a flow chart of the continue deal function 518of the web site of FIG. 5 in accordance with the present invention isshown. The continue deal function 518 allows the user to login to theunique secured account in block 1100 and retrieve any documents in block1102. If any of the documents are acceptable, as determined in decisionblock 1104, the acceptable document is selected in 1106, electronicallysigned in block 1108 and posted in block 1110. If there are any moredocuments, as determined in decision block 1112, the process loop backto decision block 1104. If there are no more documents, as determined indecision block 1112, the user logs out of the unique secured account inblock 1114 and exits the function in block 1116. If, however, there areno acceptable documents, as determined in decision block 1104, the userselects a document to modify in block 1118 and modifies the document inblock 1120. The user may then lock portions of the document against anyfuture changes. If the user decides not to lock any portions of thedocument, as determined in decision block 1122, the modified document isposted in block 1124 and additional documents can be worked with asdetermined in decision block 1112. If, however, the user does want tolock any portions of the document, as determined in decision block 1122,the user locks the portions of the document in block 1126 and themodified document is posted in block 1124 and the process continues forany additional documents as previously described.

As described above in one embodiment of the present invention, an IPseller posts his/her idea on an online “bulletin board”. This electronicbulletin board will allow the IP seller to describe his/her invention,upload photos if he/she has them, and catalogue other traits of the IPthat would entice a buyer to license or purchase the IP. The bulletinboard will showcase the idea and can facilitate locating a buyer to forthe idea. IP sellers and buyer will have to go through an electronicregistration process. During registration, both parties may be requiredto agree to confidentiality contracts that will be electronicallysigned. Additionally, either or both parties might be required toelectronically sign other agreements during different stages of thetransaction process.

IP sellers will be able to choose the level of detail regarding theiridea that they wish to reveal at any given time. The bulletin board willbe able to track the identity of all IP buyers who access a given ideaand can forward this information to the IP seller, or store it. Theseller can control the release of information however he/she chooses.

The electronic bulletin board will include a WebBot (program) that willact as a virtual agent for both parties. Either party will be able toprogram the agent to release information tailored to the party's needsand wants. The WebBot will reveal only the information and level ofdetail about the IP that a seller or buyer would instruct it to reveal.In this embodiment, the WebBot controls the transactional protocolsunique to selling and buying of IP automatically, which eliminates theneed for traditional in-person meetings between IP buyers and sellersand an agent. In the event that either or both of the parties were toask for a “human” agent rather than the WebBot, that would be arrangedthrough the bulletin board. Although the disclosed mode of the inventionis the posting of patent-related IP for sale on an electronic bulletinboard, this bulletin board can assist buyers and sellers of other formsof IP such as copyrighted materials, including manuscripts for books andoriginal works of music.

It should also be noted that the disclosed mode of the invention is anelectronic bulletin board that is most likely a network of computersconnected via the WWW internet. There are other methods of connectingbuyers and sellers contemplated by the inventor, such as by phones of acellular or satellite system, or by other means electronic or otherwise,not particularly disclosed or currently in general production or use.

The process, if broken down into discreet steps goes as follows.

Step 1. One party drafts a proposed contract or document.

Step 2. The proposed document is sent by some method to the other partyor parties. The party in step one may have pre-signed the agreementindicating that if the party or parties in step 2 were to approve theagreement unchanged, that their signature was already in place.

Step 3. If the party or parties in step 2 agreed, they would sign, orthey may amend the agreement and return to the originating party onstep 1. If altered, clearly the original party would not want thedocument to be signed without them first reviewing it.

Step 4. This cycle continues until both parties agree, then the documentor contract would become binding.

A cycle of steps (2) and (3) may occur and several permutations such aseither or both parties wanting their counsel to review the document, theidea of a proxy, or power of attorney signature, and other permutationscommon to the process.

The present invention provides an electronic means for the parties tosimulate the above process, without so much trouble. One such embodimentworks as follows:

Step 1. A party logs onto a web site and registers for a unique securedaccount, then posts a proposed document to the site indicating anotheruser that they intend to negotiate with.

Step 2. The other intended party, also with a unique secured account,“picks-up” the document, and reviews it.

Step 3. They are provided with all of the necessary tools to negotiatethe agreement, sign it, forward it, ask questions, etc.

Step 4. Once both parties agree, the system locks the agreement fromfurther change and parties are presented with executed copies for theirfiles.

There are many permutation of this process that would be obvious tosomeone skilled in such matters. It is not the intention of this filingto exclude improvements to this as is obvious . . . such as the systemcould store the documents, or that both plain text as well as digitalsignatures could be used. Also, security is paramount, and the system nodoubt would utilize any required procedures to improve performance.

The present invention also provides several possible revenue models, thecommercial value of which may be substantial. Client software could besold, developed plug-in's or a web site operated. One such embodiment ofan automated system for facilitating the transaction of IP would be acomputing system with a user and a buyer, remotely connected in somemanner. For the sakes of this scenario, a system in the form of twopersonal computers connected to the Internet and a central servermanaging the transaction is given. However, it should be obvious tothose skilled in such things, that the same might be accomplished bymeans of . . . lets say; two people using touch tones over a telephonesystem. The same might be accomplished without the need of the centralserver, and maybe with wireless devices of some sort providing theconnectivity between those individuals.

In the disclosed arrangement, two users, one a buyer of IP and one aseller of IP are connected to a central server that acts as a repositoryfor information, and has programs that will interact with thatinformation for the purposed of facilitating the IP transaction betweenthe two parties. For this exercise, Bob, the IP seller has an idea for avery special golf club putter (called onePut) that he wants to sell tosomeone. A buyer for the sporting goods chain of Gopher (Go4 for short)named Sue, will be looking for inventions as they relate to theirsporting goods business. The Web Site that they go to for handling thistransaction is called IGF.

Bob goes to the IGF site and sees that they host an invention listingssection for inventors to post their ideas in what might be described asan online classifieds for inventions. These classifieds will allow Bobto describe his invention, upload photos if he has them and to catalogueother traits of his idea for a golf putter that he thinks would entice abuyer to license or just outright buy his idea. The site promises to beable to showcase his idea, to potentially locate a buyer for him, andkeep in mind all of his special needs as the owner of a unique andvaluable idea . . . namely not disclosing his idea in a way that someonecan steal it without his knowledge and not disclosing his idea in such away that it constitutes “public disclosure” as far as the patent officesees it, thereby eliminating his chances for getting a patent that hehas applied for issued.

Bob decides to go for it and is prompted to register. During theregistration process Bob must affirmatively provide and agree to severalitems that are ultimately consummated by his “digital signature”.

1. Bob would agree to certain terms and conditions that the siteoperates under, potentially even specific terms and conditions relatedto him as a seller, such as would be in a traditional NDA.

2. Bob would affirmatively identify himself and provide certain personalinformation that form time to time could be used to substantially provethat the original registrar was indeed the same person that could accesstheir information in the future. This might be a self chosen usernameand password, but surely is not limited to this.

3. Bob would choose how he wants his idea “disclosed” or “shown” topotential buyers. The choices are outlined as follows:

a. If Bob were to already have a patent or maybe just be a risk taker,he could choose to allow his idea to be posted with no conditions placedon its accessibility. Anyone coming across Bob's listing by way ofsearching, browsing or by whatever means, could dive right into thedetails of Bob's putter idea as he provided in the original listing.This of course may or may not be in Bob's best interest and may or maynot be how buyers prefer to look at ideas, but in any case, this was achoice Bob made, and the site would make it possible. In this case, thesite software could choose to track or not track those registered buyerswho reviewed Bob's idea, could choose to store the information for laterretrieval, forward that information to Bob, for instance by way of ane-mail, or do both. Similarly, the site could give these choices to Bobto make, or it could simply happen automatically as a policy of the siteand how the program was designed to operate.

b. If Bob were being more prudent, he would choose to take advantage ofthe sites WebBot IP Agent named Prophet. When Bob listed his idea forthe putter, he would choose to invoke the services of Prophet so thatseveral desirable transactional protocols unique to selling and buyingIP could be adhered to, automatically, and without the need fortraditional meetings have to be arranged for.

4. Prophet is a disinterested third party WebBot agent, who would revealonly that information that a seller or buyer would instruct it to.

5. Bob, when registering to be a seller of his patented putter ideawould stage the information that discloses the idea of his putter insuch a way as to provide ever increasing levels of disclosure about theexact nature of the idea, ending in complete detailed disclosure of theputter to a potential buyer. Attributes of this idea are ordered andarranged such that Bob can choose how many of these “tidbits” ofinformation a buyer can go through, until they get to the end, where allof the information is disclosed. Prophet would take care of the releaseof information to any of Bob's potential buyers, and might even storeinformation relating to the disclosure, forward it on to Bob, neither,or both.

6. Now this procedure to release information in “tidbits” may or may notbe in Bob's best interest. At first glance, you would assume that it wasdesigned to keep someone from stealing Bob's idea from him without himknowing it. And in principle, it could indeed perform that role. Bob cansee that, and likes that part of Prophets role. With this in mind, Bobprovides all of the setup required to accommodate this release ofinformation in “tidbits” and hires Prophet to got to work for him.

7. What many inexperienced inventors, like Bob, are unaware of is thatcompanies such as G4 have their own R&D programs that work on inventionsall the time. Even if sellers are savvy enough to realize thatcompanies, such as G4, had R&D departments, they may not realize thatcompanies often do not want to jeopardize their R&D programs by “seeing”something in someone else's invention, which might cause the novelty orauthorship of their own R&D works to become disputed someday in a courtroom. To that end, the same “tidbits” disclosure technique that Bobthought was a good idea to keep someone from stealing his idea, turnsout to be valuable to G4, because they can opt to not see any furtherinformation relating to Bob's putter, once they believe that it mayadversely affect some R&D effort that they have underway. Just the same,they may learn that Bob's putter ideas is a great one, does not conflictwith ideas that they have underway, and continue requesting theinformation from Prophet until such time as the Bot has given themeverything they needed to see, to fully understand Bob's invention.

9. The degree and timing in which information is disclosed will be amatter of business strategy of the site. It may be determined whichsituations are optimum, and therefore the Bots function modified toaccommodate that. For instance, buyers like G4 may not be comfortablehaving their actions reported back to Bob, but may be fine understandingthat the site's management logs and stores their actions, for thebenefit of Bob, should he ever need a written record because he felt hisidea was infringed on by someone without the knowledge prior to seeingit in a listing on the web site. In this case, G4 would have improperlybenefited by seeing Bob's putter idea, if they did not afford Bob somesort of credit. Furthermore, in the event that Bob had already patentedhis idea, the function of the Bot might be quite different, since apatent constitutes public teaching of an idea, the Bots function mightjust serve as that of a notification agent for the buyer.

10. Prophet the WebBot has another very powerful role in his ability tocommunicate inventions such as Bob's putter, to buyers such as G4. Botssuch as Prophet, have the ability to only “tell” about that informationwhich they are asked for, or programmed for. In the case of IP andspecifically in that of a buyer of IP such as G4, Prophet the WebBot canonce again prove to be very handy.

11. In the case of a buyer who has no worries of being accused ofstealing someone's property and no worries of stumbling upon an ideathat may compromise something that they are already working on (almostnever) they could indeed happily browse through idea after idea, totheir hearts content. Only their time would be a limit to how many ideasthey could sift through, looking for those they are interested in, andagonizing over all the details makings sure they did not miss anything.Such is seldom the case.

12. When a buyer like G4 registers with IGF, they tell Prophet theWebBot what sort of inventions they are interested in, and could evenspecify which categories of inventions Prophet should exercise specialcare when revealing information to them. Buy categories of inventions,it might also be stated as . . . what sorts of ideas are they alreadypursuing, and where do they need to exercise special care not tojeopardize their already developing invention work.

13. So similar to the way that Bob customized how he wanted Prophet tobehave when showing his putter idea to buyers, G4 customizes Prophet totell them information that will suit their individual business needs asit relates to their desire to pursue new inventions and ideas relate toits business.

14. Prophet, by way of e-mail or some other automatic notification,would send information about ideas, tailored to G4's profile thatProphet would double check before sending. Prophet could either send alink to the information that is stored on the server, which G4'srepresentative would then logon to go review.

15. In one embodiment, the G4 representative, once on the site, mightelect to continue asking Prophet for more “tidbits” until such time thatthey may elect or reject the idea midstream before total disclosure forreasons that they may or may not be required to disclose to Bob. If theychose, they could continue on until having total access to the idea.

16. In another embodiment, Prophet the WebBot could simply prepare theinformation in a package, and send it to the buyer. The package wouldcontain whatever details that coincided with the desires of the seller,and the buyer once in receipt of the package could request moreinformation, or state that they were not interested in learning anymore.In this scenario, the package could be sent as an e-mail attachment, orProphet the WebBot could print out the information and it could bemailed or couriered to G4. In the event that neither, either or both ofthe parties were to ask for a “human” agent rather than Prophet theWebBot be involved, that would surely be arranged for.

This business of providing a method for the controlled disclosure of IPfrom a seller to a buyer has many opportunities for the operator toglean financial benefit. Much the same way that a human agent mightcharge for his or her services in bringing together buyer and seller,Prophets owners might profit. A flat fee subscription or possibly even apercentage of royalties might be charged. The charge could be paid forby either the buyer or the seller, or some combination. The businessesoperator might likely charge Bob for assisting in preparing his idea forthe site. Fees might include, but not be limited to copyrightingassistance, drawings, or the formation of the staging of information forcontrolled release to potential buyers. The site would obviously chargein some way to recoup its investment from expenses relating to hostingthe listing, and advertising to both sellers and buyers to visit. Therewould certainly be legal services that might be required by either orboth parties. Whether IGF were to offer those services in some way orsimple reference them out, they have trade value. In the event the sitecreates considerable traffic, other sorts of services, thosespecifically relate to the profile of visitors to the site, could beoffered. Revenues from advertising on the site would be possible. Andlast, but not least, in the event that either of the parties were to askfor a “human” agent to be involved, fees for services could be realizedthere as well.

Although the preferred embodiment is demonstrated using IP of aninvention nature, the same concept would hold true for other sorts of IPthat involve buyers and sellers. For instance, copyrighted materialssuch as manuscripts for books might be offered for sale in a similarway. Maybe original works of music the same.

While this invention has been described in reference to illustrativeembodiments, this description is not intended to be construed in alimiting sense. Various modifications and combinations of theillustrative embodiments, as well as other embodiments of the invention,will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to thedescription. It is therefore intended that the appended claims encompassany such modifications or embodiments.

1-29. (canceled) 30: A system for facilitating a transaction between two or more parties comprising: a network interface; one or more data storage devices; one or more processors communicably coupled to the network interface and the data storage devices; and a non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program communicably coupled to the processors to: receive one or more electronic documents and an identity validation via the network interface from a client communications device of a first party to the transaction, wherein all of the one or more electronic documents are locked against future changes, and the identity validation of the first party indicates that the first party has agreed to the one or more electronic documents, receive registration information via the network interface from the client communications device of a second party to the transaction wherein the registration information comprises the identity validation of the second party, post the received documents such that the client communications device of the second party can access the posted electronic documents, provide the second party with access to the received electronic documents, and whenever an acceptance of any of the one or more electronic documents is received by from the client communications device of the second party, attach the identity validation from the first party and the second party to the accepted one or more electronic documents. 31: The system as recited in claim 30, wherein the identity validation comprises an electronic signature. 32: The system as recited in claim 30, wherein the identity validation information of the second party comprises a user name for the second party, a password for the second party and an electronic signature for the second party. 33: The system as recited in claim 30, wherein the processors further assign the transaction to an account that is accessible via a network. 34: The system as recited in claim 33, wherein the account comprises a secured account and the second party is provided with a login information for the secured account. 35: The system as recited in claim 30, wherein the processors further provide the accepted one or more electronic documents to each party. 36: The system as recited in claim 30, wherein: the transaction involves goods or services; or the transaction involves intellectual property comprising copyrightable material, ideas, patents, patent applications, trademarks, licenses or technology. 37: The system as recited in 30, wherein the one or more electronic documents are selected by the first party from a list of standard agreements made available to the first party. 38: The system as recited in claim 30, wherein the one or more electronic documents are stored in a user profile assigned to the first party. 39: The system as recited in claim 30, wherein the processors further provide a dialog session that is: (a) public to all the parties for recording comments relating to the one or more electronic documents, or (b) private between at least two of the parties for recording comments to the one or more electronic documents. 40: The system as recited in claim 30, wherein: the transaction involves a business opportunity in which the first party and the second party desire to enter into a binding relationship; or the client communications device comprises a computer, a workstation, a personal data assistant, an Internet-enabled phone or a wireless communications device. 41: A system for facilitating a transaction between two or more parties comprising: network interface; one or more data storage devices; one or more processors communicably coupled to the network interface and the data storage devices; and a non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program communicably coupled to the processors to: receive one or more electronic documents and an electronic signature via the network interface from a client communications device of a first party to the transaction, wherein all of the one or more electronic documents are locked against future changes, and the electronic signature of the first party indicates that the first party has agreed to the one or more electronic documents, receive an electronic signature of the second party via the network interface from the client communications device of a second party to the transaction, post the received documents such that the client communications device of the second party can access the posted electronic documents, provide the second party with access to the received electronic documents, and whenever an acceptance of any of the one or more electronic documents is received from the client communications device of the second party, attach the electronic signature from the first party and the second party to the accepted one or more electronic documents. 42: The system as recited in claim 41, wherein the processors further: receive a user name for the second party and a password for the second party; or provide the second party with a login information for the posted electronic documents; or provide the accepted one or more electronic documents to each party; or provide a dialog session that is: (a) public to all the parties for recording comments relating to the one or more electronic documents, or (b) private between at least two of the parties for recording comments to the one or more electronic documents. 43: The system as recited in 41, wherein: the one or more electronic documents are selected by the first party from a list of standard agreements made available to the first party; or the one or more electronic documents are stored in a user profile assigned to the first party; or. the client communications device comprises a computer, a workstation, a personal data assistant, an Internet-enabled phone or a wireless communications device. 44: A system for facilitating a transaction between two or more parties comprising: a network interface; one or more data storage devices; one or more processors communicably coupled to the network interface and the data storage devices; and a non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program communicably coupled to the processors to: receive one or more electronic documents and an identity validation via the network interface from a client communications device of a first party to the transaction; wherein one or more portions of the one or more electronic documents can be changed, chosen, modified or substituted as determined by the first party, the remaining portions of the one or more electronic documents are locked against future changes, and the identity validation of the first party indicates that the first party has agreed to the one or more electronic documents including the first party determined changes, choices, modifications or substitutions; receive registration information the network interface from the client communications device of a second party to the transaction wherein the registration information comprises the identity validation of the second party; assign the transaction to an account that is accessible via a network; post the received documents to the account such that the client communications device of the second party can access the posted electronic documents, provide the second party with access to the received electronic documents; track one or more changes, choices, modifications, substitutions or combinations thereof to the one or more electronic documents made by the second party; and whenever an acceptance of any of the one or more electronic documents including any of the one or more changes, choices, modifications or combinations thereof is received from the client communications device of the second party, attach the identity validation from the first party and the second party to the accepted one or more electronic documents. 45: The system as recited in claim 44, wherein the identity validation comprises an electronic signature. 46: The system as recited in claim 44, wherein the account comprises a secured account and the second party is provided with a login information for the secured account. 47: The system as recited in claim 44, wherein the identity validation information of the second party comprises a user name for the second party, a password for the second party and an electronic signature for the second party. 48: The system as recited in claim 44, wherein the processors further provide the signed electronic documents to each party. 49: The system as recited in claim 44, wherein: the transaction involves goods or services; or the transaction involves intellectual property comprising copyrightable material, ideas, patents, patent applications, trademarks, licenses or technology. 50: The system as recited in claim 44, wherein: the one or more electronic documents are selected by the first party from a list of standard agreements made available to the first party; or the one or more electronic documents are stored in a user profile assigned to the first party. 51: The system as recited in claim 44, wherein the processors further provide a dialog session that is: (a) public to all the parties for recording comments relating to the one or more electronic documents, or (b) private between at least two of the parties for recording comments to the one or more electronic documents. 52: The system as recited in claim 44, wherein the processors track the one or more changes, choices, modifications, substitutions or combinations thereof to the one or more electronic documents made by the second party by: receiving one or more commands relating to a portion of the electronic documents from the second party, wherein the one or more commands include an acceptance of the portion of the one or more electronic documents, a change of the portion of the one or more electronic documents by the second party, a choice of the portion of the one or more electronic documents by the second party, a modification of the portion of the one or more electronic documents by the second party, or a substitution of the portion of the one or more electronic documents by the second party; and displaying the acceptances, the changes, the choices, the modifications, the substitutions or the combinations thereof in a different visual format. 53: The system as recited in claim 52, wherein the first party determined changes, choices, modifications or substitutions comprise one or more opt in or opt out provisions. 54: The system as recited in claim 44, wherein: the transaction involves a business opportunity in which the first party and the second party desire to enter into a binding relationship; or the client communications device comprises a computer, a workstation, a personal data assistant, an Internet-enabled phone or a wireless communications device. 55: A system for facilitating a transaction between two or more parties comprising: a network interface; one or more data storage devices; one or more processors communicably coupled to the network interface and the data storage devices; and a non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program communicably coupled to the processors to: receive one or more electronic documents and an electronic signature via the network interface from a client communications device of a first party to the transaction, wherein one or more portions of the one or more electronic documents can be changed, chosen, modified or substituted as determined by the first party, the remaining portions of the one or more electronic documents are locked against future changes, and the identity validation of the first party indicates that the first party has agreed to the one or more electronic documents including the first party determined changes, choices, modifications or substitutions, receive an electronic signature of the second party from the client communications device of a second party to the transaction, post the received documents such that the client communications device of the second party can access the posted electronic documents, provide the second party with access to the received electronic documents; track one or more changes, choices, modifications, substitutions or combinations thereof to the one or more electronic documents made by the second party, and whenever an acceptance of any of the one or more electronic documents including any of the one or more changes, choices, modifications or combinations thereof is received from the client communications device of the second party, attach the electronic signature from the first party and the second party to the accepted one or more electronic documents. 56: The system as recited in claim 55, wherein the processors further: receive a user name for the second party and a password for the second party; or provide the second party with a login information for the posted electronic documents; or provide the accepted one or more electronic documents to each party; or provide a dialog session that is: (a) public to all the parties for recording comments relating to the one or more electronic documents, or (b) private between at least two of the parties for recording comments to the one or more electronic documents. 57: The system as recited in 55, wherein: the one or more electronic documents are selected by the first party from a list of standard agreements made available to the first party; or the one or more electronic documents are stored in a user profile assigned to the first party; or. the client communications device comprises a computer, a workstation, a personal data assistant, an Internet-enabled phone or a wireless communications device. 58: The system as recited in claim 55, wherein the processors track the one or more changes, choices, modifications, substitutions or combinations thereof to the one or more electronic documents made by the second party by: receiving one or more commands relating to a portion of the electronic documents from the second party, wherein the one or more commands include an acceptance of the portion of the one or more electronic documents, a change of the portion of the one or more electronic documents by the second party, a choice of the portion of the one or more electronic documents by the second party, a modification of the portion of the one or more electronic documents by the second party, or a substitution of the portion of the one or more electronic documents by the second party; and displaying the acceptances, the changes, the choices, the modifications, the substitutions or the combinations thereof in a different visual format. 59: The system as recited in claim 58, wherein the first party determined changes, choices, modifications or substitutions comprise one or more opt in or opt out provisions. 